


can I stay?

by tootiredmotel



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, I Made Myself Cry, Iron Dad, Multi, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker, Spider-son, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, additional background characters, happy with a sad ending, it just broke, major infinity war spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-03 03:20:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14559708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tootiredmotel/pseuds/tootiredmotel
Summary: written purely because Michael Giacchino composed not only the music from Up (including Ellie's theme) but Spider-Man: Homecoming (+a lot more, but these are tied through that)here's a link to listen!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P56M-OZhOboalso, this thing is littered with Up quotes





	can I stay?

**Author's Note:**

> written purely because Michael Giacchino composed not only the music from Up (including Ellie's theme) but Spider-Man: Homecoming (+a lot more, but these are tied through that)
> 
> here's a link to listen! 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P56M-OZhObo
> 
> also, this thing is littered with Up quotes

* * *

 

Tony couldn't believe it. Kid turned down a spot from the avengers. After all that time, and Tony finally offered, just for the kid to say no. He couldn't say he wasn't proud though. 

 

_My dad never really gave me a lot of support and I'm just trying to break the cycle of shame_

 

But then all too soon, every negative thing he ever said to the kid hit him like a freight train

 

_What if somebody had died?_

_That's on you   and if you died, I feel like that's on me_

_I don't need that on my conscious_

_I'm gonna need the suit back_

 

And the apology he offered...wasn't a real apology. It was half-assed, like the apologies he gave everyone else. One more thing he could pin on Howard. He'd make it up to him though.

 

He would. 

 

* * *

 

They were still working on the whole communicating thing, what mentor and mentee didn't need work in that department though? They realized that just checking in with each other and reporting wasn't enough when someone calling themselves Hydro Man showed up. 

 

When Tony arrived on the scene, he saw the kid in a crouched position on a roof, obviously about to dive into the slowly flooding streets. The water couldn't be higher than three inches, and it only lasted as long as Queens Boulevard. 

 

"Kid, if you're thinking about taking the ultimate canon ball, don't." He noticed the kid flinched, nearly falling off the building's ledge anyways and probably would have, had it not been for Tony grabbing his shoulder, holding him in place. "Mr. Stark! What, uh, what are you doing here?" Tony raised an eyebrow, kind of taken back by the kid's sense of awareness, _or lack thereof_. "You didn't hear me?" 

 

Peter shrugged, looking back down at the street. "Guess I was just focused." 

 

Tony almost pushed it further, deciding they could talk about it after. Instead, he let the kid take the lead. "What's the plan, Spider-Man?" This got the kid to pop his head back up. "Me? You're letting m-" Peter was cut off by a handful of citizens screaming, the water beginning to rise another inch or two, making it difficult for cars to evacuate. 

 

"You ever see that really old movie _The Day After Tomorrow_?" and _good lord, that movie wasn't even that old, kid was probably three when it came out._

 

It wound up being a good plan though. The movie reference was just so he could point out that Water Fountain Man was trying to repeat that. It was a humble brag, if there ever was one, and Tony teased him about it too. _"Oh, no, I was just-it was just an example, I'm not-I don't-"_ long story short, he added improving the kid's self confidence to the list. 

 

Peter had distracted the guy while Tony had FRIDAY help with draining the city, locating the blockers Hydro placed. "I'm sorry, did you say your name was Hydrant Man? The dogs must love you!" Tony also added talking to the enemies to the list, because the mouth on this kid, while cheesy, would get him hurt one day. As much as Tony loved being right, he didn't want to be proven right at the moment.

 

Hydro Man gathered a stream, throwing Peter against a wall with it. "The itsy bitsy spider crawled up the water spout!" Tony turned, noticing how the fight was escalating. "Down came the rain..." Water Bender kept the stream on Peter, as if he was being waterboarded by a mini tsunami. "to wash the spider out!" 

 

Tony had FRIDAY finish draining and then blocking any water near the man. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Peter manage to swing away from the bad guy, headed towards the billionaire. "You alright kid?" The teenager next to him nodded. "Yeah, water under the bridge." _God help him._

 

_NEXT DAY_

 

Tony had invited Peter over to pick up and try on his now water-proof sticky suit. "That being said, it doesn't mean it's completely water proof. If you went nosediving at the Fairview, you'd still be soaked. I just made it so that if anything like yesterday happened you'd still be able to stick to surfaces without sliding." _That_ had been interesting to watch. The kid's webs weren't sticking to a lot of the buildings either, so Tony had to hold him from under the arms,  _like the last time when the kid was drowning,_ and fly him back to the Queens apartment. 

 

"So, if I really wanted to, I could go swing myself through a slip 'n slide?" Tony looked at the kid funny, as if he'd said the most ridiculous thing in the world, _which he basically_ _did_. "I mean...I _guess_." 

 

They spent the next twenty minutes testing said slip 'n slide theory. 

 

"So what was with you yesterday? There's no way you couldn't have heard me. You have super senses." Tony caught the wince on Peter's face. _He'd have to answer it some time._ "I was just-" _trying to be like you_ "Don't say super focused. Again, you have super senses." After a brief moment of silence, Peter finally looked up from the ground, trying and failing to avoid eye contact. He barely spoke above a whisper.

 

"I didn't want to disappoint you again."

 

It was a whisper, but Tony heard it all the same and it felt like his chest was being squeezed.

 

The billionaire hesitated before placing a hand on the kid's shoulder, making him look back up. _If anything, I'm disappointed in myself_. "You didn't."  _Disappointed, but not surprised. Again, at himself only._ "Did you actually not hear me, or where you so caught up in-" He stopped himself before he could be any more of an ass. Kid didn't deserve it. He didn't do anything wrong. "Is there something wrong with your hearing?" 

 

He felt the heart tug again, with the way Peter looked up at him, his bright brown eyes red rimmed and looking watery. _Great job, Stark._ "I didn't mean it like that. Is there something that needs to be checked out though?" The kid shook his head, trying to keep how obvious it was he was on the verge of tears a secret. "My senses just... the mask helps filtering, mostly." _God, Stark, you ass._  

 

_"When whatever happened happened, it's like my senses were dialed to eleven."_

 

Tony wished there were a way for him to punch himself or something. He had made the mask help with the kid's vision, trying to get rid of the extra input and Tony realizes... _does his vision act that way when he's not in the suit?_ He hadn't really thought that much of audio. 

 

"Like, after the plane crash, everything was fuzzy and it sounded like I was underwater kinda." _Shit, the plane crash._ "And when the building fell, I could hear every piece of rubble or slab move." _When the building fell? What building?_ "Sometimes at school I can hear people talking from the other side of the cafeteria, like actual conversations. I used to just...deal with it, but now that Ned knows, I don't feel bad about using earbuds, 'cause he understands." 

 

After another two minutes, _he counted_ , of the kid explaining to him, telling him why sometimes he would get Karen to block out extra noise by talking to him, Tony just placed a hand on his shoulder again. He didn't even realize he was pulling the kid forward because, _oh, Peter, you shouldn't have to go through this, you're fifteen._

 

"That's not a hug, I'm just reaching for your mask." Peter seemed to catch on though, lingering for a second more before handing Tony his mask, playing along. "Let's get this thing filtered, huh?"

* * *

 

 

"Fresh air. Disgusting." Tony joked, hearing Peter offer a small, but generous, laugh. They were getting to a point where they could joke around each other much more easily. This particular time, they were at Central Park because of some guy named Electro. They'd caught him, sure. But now they were taking a breath, waiting on Fury's _jail_ -carrier to pick him up. "God, is this was camping feels like?" 

 

It only took about seven more minutes until Fury showed, taking the man and leaving, offering no thanks and Tony couldn't help but wonder if that was how Peter felt after Vulture or when cops picked up the criminals he stopped. Things were better though, now that they'd talked about the collapsing of the building and Tony programmed more protocols. 

 

"My uncle Ben took me camping once." Tony looked over to where the kid sat, back against the tree. He hadn't heard much about Ben Parker, only knowing the basics. "He said it was good to go out and get fresh air once in awhile. He thought we could make it a tradition." Peter paused, staring at his lap. "We would talk about nothing and everything, roast hot dogs and marshmallows over a fire for the sake of being cliche. We didn't actually do it in the woods though, 'cause it's kind of frowned upon. So we did it on the roof of our apartment building and used a grill." 

 

Peter continued, looking up at the stars instead. "We had blankets on the ground, so he could show me the constellations." 

 

Tony moved from his spot at the bench, slowly making his way to sit next to the teenager that was finally opening up. "We started doing it when I was ten and it stopped when I was fourteen because I...we started fighting more." Peter paused. Tony didn't know if it was because of his presence or if the story was just getting too painful. "I remember one day on the way to school...he was getting onto me because I snapped at May and I don't know why I did. I think it was because of the spider bite. I was really irritable and miserable, 'cause I thought..." 

 

"Thought what, kid?" Tony nudged Peter with his shoulder, thanking himself for his vacant suit behind them. "I thought I was gonna die from it." _God, he dealt with it alone._

 

"Why else would all of my senses enhance like that suddenly? I was having major food cravings and I thought maybe it was just my body trying to save itself. Anyways...he told me...he said, 'I know I'm not your dad' and I yelled at him. I said...I asked him why he was pretending to be." Peter sniffled, signaling Tony to wrap an arm around his shoulder. "It's okay, kiddie. That's not even the worst you could've done. You should've heard some of the things me and my dad said to each other." 

 

Deep down, Tony thought that was the worst thing the kid could've done. He was too pure and not capable of deliberately doing wrong. Deliberately disobeying him, sure. But never doing wrong by others.

 

He made another note to take Peter stargazing at the compound, where the air wasn't so thickly foggy that they would have a hard time finding the constellations. 

 

"We did basic camping stuff with what we had. That might sound boring, but I think the boring stuff is the stuff I remember the most."

* * *

 

 

It was flu season and everyone was getting sick. Well, all the kids in New York were. Tony didn't think that included radioactive spider bitten teenagers whose healing factor was increased since said bite. But there Peter was, layed up on a couch in the lobby of the compound, shivering even under the blanket. 

 

Tony made his way over to said couch, making sure to keep enough of a distance as to not get sick himself. "Thought spiderlings couldn't get sick." It took him awhile, but Peter shifted his head, facing Tony. "I don't...I don't feel so good." _Well no shit, kid. Don't look so hot either._ He _would_ get sick the weekend May allows him to stay over. Not that she really had a choice in the matter since she had a work conference to make that morning. "Can I stay?"

 

The billionaire brushed some of the kid's hair back. If he couldn't remember the fact that he was already staying, he wouldn't remember this. "I know we already made plans but...I can just go home if you want." _Well, looks like no one would be forgetting that after all_. He didn't bother to stop though. "Kid, you've got a hell of a fever if you think I'm gonna let you go home like this. Did you think I was?" 

 

Peter shrugged weakly, probably doing so to the best of his ability, too. "I mean, if you're sick at school they send you home." His voice was weak too and Tony realized something. "Wait. Were you sick at school? Did you just go home? Why not call? May left me in charge, you know. She'll eat me when she finds out." Which, while sounding like an exaggeration, May probably would kill him if he let her nephew get sick and deal with it alone. "They didn't believe me when I said you were my emergency contact, they thought I filled out the form instead of May, so I got detention for forging her signature and then I went home." 

 

Tony was angry. How could they think that? "You're telling me that you got detention because you were sick? Okay, FRIDAY, get me the principal on the-" Peter jumped up and slinked back down, his fever getting to him. "Mr. Stark, you don't have to do that, it's okay." _The hell it is._ He says so too. He'd just have to call when the kid went to sleep. It did nothing to soothe his anger for now though. "Alright," _I can wait you out_   goes unsaid, "you need medicine then. What do you take, liquid Tylenol?" He huffed a laugh at his own joke, only half serious. How the hell was he supposed to know what kids take when they're sick? "Mr. Stark, that's for little kids. I can take Ibuprofen." 

 

So Tony went to the cabinets to find an Ibuprofen for the kid, bringing the bottle and a glass of water he got from the kitchen. "Okay, Underoos. Time to pop some pills." He emptied out two, holding them in the palm of his hand for Peter to take. "Can-Can I have more?" Peter seemed hesitant in asking, which earned an eyebrow raise from Tony. "More? I know I said it was pill poppin' time but we're not gonna make an addict of you." The kid's eyes widened, Tony was reminded of a cartoon puppy not for the first time. "What...Don't tell me you've taken more than two every six hours." The kid's little "um" isn't really reassuring and he says so. "I take f...five every six hours." Tony snatched his hand away, pills with his. "Excuse me?"

 

"Wha-only when I'm sick! And-and I can either do that or take two every three hours, but then I'd have to wake up." Tony still refuses to hand the pills over, especially after Peter's answer. "Why the hell would you need to do that?" He'd been down the path of alcohol and drugs before, he was not about to let this brilliant kid do the same. There was only so many footsteps he'd allow to be followed. "My metabolism goes through them too fast," _Shit, he'd forgotten that part._ Kid said five pills and he immediately thought of himself, his own mistakes that he wouldn't let Peter follow in. "But I can try the two every six. I'd just need to sleep it off." He'd think the kid were joking, if he wasn't looking at him with his big bambi eyes, _n_ _ew nickname,_ and being sincere. "Nope. You're going to take three for now and I'm going to find you something your metabolism won't burn through. By the time you need more, I'll have something for you." 

 

It was easy to forget Peter had super abilities, strength and senses. Sure, the super fast metabolism meant he could eat and eat and _eat_ and be good to go, as he'd discovered. But then he had to eat so much because his body would burn through it quickly. He was like a ~~dying~~ battery. It was easy to forget because he was just a kid. 

 

Peter took the three and water, laying back down beneath the blankets. Kid kept shivering, even still. So Tony grabbed the throw on the back of the couch, covering the kid in another layer. "Get some sleep, Parker."

 

_ONE 1/2 HOUR LATER_

 

Tony came back up the stairs, ready for Peter to try his little concoction. He'd finished early, of course, but he could give the kid a few more to snooze. When he saw Peter, his chest had that same squeezing factor as before. Kid was sprawled all over the couch, not having enough room, probably. Tony realized that he probably went through this at home, seeing as the twin bed was about as wide as the couch. So he did something he never thought he'd do. He rolled Peter into a blanket burrito, making sure he was still asleep. And then scooped him up, Peter's face against Tony's chest. His heart warmed and he didn't want to put the kid down again. But he had to, once he made it to the kid's room.  

 

Placing him underneath the comforter, he set the bottle of newly made pills on the nightstand. Tony took a seat on one side of the bed, smoothing back Peter's hair again. It was something he was starting to like, so he started carding his fingers through the curls and _man did this kid have a lot of curls._ He could spend hours going through it. 

 

"There you are! I'm gonna take off-" For a second there, Tony thought Rhodey had woken the kid up when Peter shifted, turning more towards Tony. "What's going on here?" Tony was grateful for his best friend's whispering, not even having to shush him. "Kid's sick and he's staying here while his aunt is out of town." Rhodey offered a knowing look. "You _did_ carbon date him, didn't you?" 

 

Rhodey smirked at Tony's expression, trying not to laugh. It was perfect, he couldn't freak out on him with Peter right there, proving Rhodey's point that _okay_ , maybe he _was_ treating Peter like his own. 

 

If Rhodey came back to find Tony asleep with his hand still buried in the kid's hair and took a picture, Tony wouldn't know until the next day when he received the picture.

 

* * *

 

 

"Remind me why we're here again?" Peter looked between two heavy stones, even checking underneath. Tony sighed, pretending to be searching between tall plants. It was the kid's sixteenth birthday and his job was to keep the teen occupied while everyone got the surprise party set up. 

 

"I never said." He smirked, hearing Peter mutter a 'damn, thought that'd work'  He turned to see Peter flipping stones and rushed over. "Okay, no need to throw stones, bud. Let's-" "Hey, why don't we just scan the area again?" If Tony gave the honest answer then he'd have to explain why they were in the middle of nowhere looking for nothing. 

 

"It's unscannable." Tony pulled Peter back before he could lift another stone. Kid was gonna pull something and _that_ would suck. Because then he'd have to hear about it on the way home while carrying him. "How could it possibly be unscannable?" _This kid and questions._

 

They spent the next two hours searching for literally nothing, Tony still refused to make something up. _Not that he couldn't, he just didn't want to, that's all._ "Okay, let's head back."

 

Tony should've known that after three hours of looking around that when they started walking back, the kid would start complaining. Not that he could blame him. Tony wouldn't want to spend his birthday outside looking for something he had no idea about just to walk home. "I'm tired, my knee hurts." 

 

"Which knee?" After a moment of no response, Tony smirked. _Gotcha_. "...my elbow hurts." Little shit. 

 

"Wait...is that the compound? Have we been behind the compound this whole time?!" Tony tried not to laugh as Peter gaped. "Why didn't we just take a golf cart?!" Which, in fairness, was a good question. Tony had distracted Peter on the flight over by getting him to take a look at his new web shooter combinations, which he claimed were his birthday present. Kid seemed contempt. Happy, actually. Like he wasn't even expecting to get a birthday present from him which would be ridiculous. He would be getting Peter a car if it weren't for May stopping him. When they landed, he had set on autopilot while they looked for the fake mystery object.

 

"Where's the fun in that?" 

 

When they reached the compound, Peter tore his mask off, sending Tony mock glares. "Oh relax, it's not like the exercise was bad for you. Get the lights, would you?" 

 

As soon as Peter flipped the switch, he was greeted by a loud chanting of 'Surprise!' and was, in fact, so surprised, that he jumped onto the ceiling, hanging upside down. When he saw that there was no threat and he spidey senses didn't fail him, he dropped back down next to Tony. "Holy shit. You guys...for me?" 

 

Tony felt his heart tug on the inside and he started telling himself that there was nothing he wouldn't do for the kid. May answered him first though, followed by Pepper. "Of course! It's your sweet sixteen, we couldn't just order takeout and marathon movies this year." 

 

"And you know there's nothing we wouldn't do for you, Peter." _That. That was why he was marrying Pepper. She basically read his mind and made it better._

 

The party was actually fun. Tony didn't think a sweet sixteen without booze could be, then again, Peter was a better kid than he ever was. Speaking of, the kid was currently talking to his friend Ted near the snack table, pouring himself punch. Just seeing him that happy for a party of a handful of people made his heart swell. He couldn't wait for Peter's eighteenth, he was definitely taking him somewhere, maybe Disneyland. They'd figure it out later. For now, he was happy with seeing Peter that happy. 

 

Later, when Tony found himself a window,he snuck Peter to the lab area/work space. "The upgraded webshooters weren't your actual birthday present. This is." Tony guided Peter to the entrance of a semi-secluded area, placing Peter's hand on a pad. "FRIDAY, scan the kid's hand." He witnessed how the shine in Peter's eyes brightened. "Mr. Stark, what-" "Call me Tony, kid. And this is your own work space." The door slid itself open, revealing different placeholders for different spidey suits. They were empty, of course, with the exception of two. The first being the kid's sweatpants and goggles case. Underneath it was labelled Mark I. Next to it was the suit Peter had been wearing before he changed, Mark II. 

 

"Mr-Tony...you didn't have to do this." Tony looked down at the kid, who was looking at all of the different tables for different things, lingering on the Web Station. "Nonsense. Happy birthday kid." _For you? Anything._  

 

* * *

 

 

 

Tony and Peter were arguing. They found themselves doing that a lot whenever they were together for the past couple of weeks. It wasn't really either of their faults, they just tried too hard to prove their points and it drove the other person crazy.

 

For instance, Tony just wanted the kid to stay off the streets and to not patrol unless he said so, causing the kid to go stir crazy. Peter, of course, wanted nothing more than to do the opposite of that and would make it known just how capable he was, thus driving Tony crazy.

 

A scientist that Tony had refused to fund went mad, surprise, surprise. Instead of Justin Hammer, it was Otto Octavius. He had pitched an idea to Tony, suggestion they perform tests on Spider-Man through the billionaire's connections with the arachnid to find a way for "normal people" to have the same abilities without "being a freak of nature" which of course pissed Tony off to no end.

 

He couldn't tell Peter why he had to be more careful without explaining it and the kid would latch onto the idea of him being a "freak". So, yeah, they'd been fighting a lot. "But I want to help!" "I don't want your help, I want you safe!" Peter recoiled and Tony caught it, instantly feeling like he should apologize immediately, but decided not to. He already sounded better than Howard and if the kid wanted to do everything by himself he wouldn't be here.

 

After more yelling, mainly on his end, Peter left. They hadn't talked to each other for days after, until Tony saw the Daily Bugle reporting on the "menacing Spider-Man" and the "possible partnership" between him and the mad scientist labelled Doctor Octopus. Tony'd marched, flew, his way to Queens, mentally demanding to know what the hell was going on.

 

When he got there, he saw the kid, in suit, running from something. "Kid, what the hell?" Peter looked up, pausing slightly before nearly tripping over himself and returning to running. "Mr. Stark! They think I did it!" Did what? Three police officers turned the corner, sprinting as they yelled out. "Spider-Man, freeze!" Peter swung himself up, narrowly missing a bullet. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Shooting at the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man?" The officers did not look amused at all. "Move it, Stark, Spider guy is a wanted criminal!" Wanted criminal, what the f- before he knew it, a gun fired and an officer practically jumped. "Got him! Let's move!" "Yeah, no, I don't think so." Tony shot off, zooming through the air, searching rooftops.

 

"FRIDAY?" "He's on your left, Boss." And there Peter lay, well, sat, webbing his wound. Shit. Shit shit shit shit. Mother- This is a sixteen year old kid, for Christ sake. He'd kill them. Whoever the hell thought it was a good idea to shoot a kid. Sure, one could offer that they didn't know Spider-Man was a kid, but as much as Peter disagreed, he definitely sounds like one. He'd admit, kid's voice was starting to get a bit deeper. Not the point. He'd find whoever framed the lovable arachnid for whatever he was being chased and shot at for and he'd kill them too.

 

"Kid, you alright?" Peter jumped, reminding Tony of Berlin when the kid got knocked down via giant bitch slap courtesy of Ant-Man. "Hey, same side." He grabbed Peter's wrists before he could finish webbing a damned bullet wound in his calf. "You wanna tell me what the hell that was all about?" It took about five or so minutes, due to the kid's rambling, but Tony learned that Octavius, Doc Ock according to the kid, decided he'd start upgrading his mechanical arms to which the Bugle thought made him look "Spidery" and apparently Jameson had reported to the police that both mad scientist and FNSM, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, were working together to take over New York. Of course the police decided to shoot first rather than investigate the bullshit.

 

"Mr. Stark, I really think I should have this looked at." Tony nodded, gathering the teen in his arms. "For once, you have a solid plan." With that, he flew them back to his place, having his medical team on standby. It took about an hour to get the bullet out because the kid's tissues and muscles kept trying to grow over it. When it was over though, Peter was asleep. More from exhaustion than the drugs in his system. So there Tony sat, in one of the chairs of the room. They had a lot to talk about.

 

* * *

 

 

"Shit, Mr. Stark. This is...this is kinda scary." Tony rolled his eyes. Can't blame him for letting mister "I think I'll be okay, it can't be that scary" watching the flick. He did warn him, after all. "I told you not to watch Nightmare on Elm Street."

 

"I had to! I can't help that you just so happened to have it. Besides, it's an oldie but a goodie." Did this kid really just- "Oldie-Freakin' kids these days." He checked the time on his Stark watch. "It's getting late and aunt hottie will kill me if you break her curfew rule."

 

"But it's already late, can I stay?"

* * *

 

 

He knows he's wrong for it, but Christ on a sandwich, he's got a headache and the kid is a chatterbox. "Let's play a game. It's called See Who Can Be Quiet the Longest." It's not like he'd send Peter home. Yet. "My dad said the same thing when he was home."

 

Tony instantly felt bad about saying it once Peter said that. He always worried about not being Howard, man would've told him to 'shut the hell up or go to your room' and send him to his room anyways, that he never thought about what kind of father Richard Parker was. "Yeah?" shit "mine too."

 

They ended up talking a lot. More than Tony thought they would and he learned things about the kid. 

As it turned out, Peter was at the Stark Expo the year Hammer tried to kill everyone with his bots. Tony even signed the kid's merchandise. That part wasn't as important though. "I remember thinking 'this is crazy, I finally meet my childhood hero and he's trying to kill us' but it wasn't you, it was Hammer. You saved me back then too."

* * *

 

 

"Can I stay?" _Can you stay, you're my kid aren't you?_   But he doesn't say that. He rarely ever says what he wants to say in front of the kid. "Yeah, just let aunt hottie know."

* * *

 

 

Tony never thought he could label just one day to be The Worst Day of His Life, there were far too many things to choose from. 

 

This one...this one started out great. He had a dream he had a kid. That Pepper was pregnant and they'd start their own family soon. He'd even get Peter to be the surrogate brother or something. 

 

But then life had a way of intervening, everything from the park went downhill. 

 

 

"Stark? I don't feel so good."

 

Peter begging, broken  _"I don't wanna go's"_ circulating in Tony's brain, along with the 'can I stay's' he'd never hear again. 

 

_"Can I stay?"  Dammit, kid, if you don't..._

**Author's Note:**

> ending sucks, I'm sorry :/
> 
>  
> 
> should I write Peter's 18th birthday in disneyland to make up for it?


End file.
